


It Was The Best Year

by LittleMissWolfie



Series: Individuation [5]
Category: Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Fluffy, Gen, I can barely do walking tbh, M/M, Maybe angst???? Unsure, Or it's supposed to represent it, Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight, References The Answer, Sorry for no dance descriptions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 19:56:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19730695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleMissWolfie/pseuds/LittleMissWolfie
Summary: Kotone and Makoto get to be Minako and Minato again for one night.





	It Was The Best Year

**Author's Note:**

> Helloooooo, everyone! I'm so glad to be posting again!
> 
> I wanted to post this last week, but I was visiting my family in Ontario and my uncle's wifi was out so I couldn't. The title, of course, comes from the song Our Time from the Persona 3: Dancing in Starlight soundtrack. Also, like I did for the majority of Seeking to Seize, I will be posting this one shot and the cover I made for it on Canva on Individuation's tumblr, which I will link in the end notes. 
> 
> As for future fics in this series, I have decided against writing the one-shot collection next and have instead begun to work on the P5 fic, Hoping I've Got It All Right. I have the first two chapters written in my notebook but not typed out, and after I finish the third chapter, which I'm mostly through, I'm going to actually write the action prologue we all love from the game and start adding in the framing device through the rest of the fic. Again, it won't be a novellization, but I want to preserve what makes Persona 5 what it is in my interpretation of it. Because I still have to do the prologue, I may have to not post it next week, but when I do, I will be posting the prologue and chapter one at the same time. 
> 
> Thank you all so much for your support! Please let me know what you think of this in the comments and I hope to see you again soon with Persona 5!!

It’s a cruel twist of fate, Kotone thinks, that they have to stay in the love hotel for their trip. Even two years later, the rooms are painfully familiar; she remembers Junpei joking around, remembers Akihiko-senpai getting flustered at seeing her in a towel, remembers smashing mirrors with her naginata. From the extra little twinge in her belly, she knows Makoto feels the same way.

In some ways, Kotone is grateful for Philemon’s deal. It’s given her another chance to live, and to live it with the brother she thought was gone forever. But the toll—she and Makoto sharing emotions and pain—can be a little much.  _ Though, _ she thinks,  _ he has it worse. He has to deal with my cramps. _

They convinced the school administration to let them share a room, and Elizabeth and Theo are next door. She’s glad they came, even though they had to pay for their own room and transportation. Being back on Tatsumi Port Island is easier with them here.

Makoto fakes being sick to get out of the trip to Gekkoukan, and Kotone offers to stay with him, and none of their teachers really care so it works. The four of them sneak to the mall for coffee and spend a quiet afternoon reminiscing. They’re leaving just as Narukami-kun and his friends are arriving, laughing and chattering, and Kotone can’t help the smile that stretches across her face. She wishes S.E.E.S. was more like them.

She feels more than sees Theo reaching out to her. Things have been…  _ awkward _ since he broke up with her when she was still Minako. Was “break up” even the right term for what happened? Can you even break up with someone you’re not officially dating? The whole situation is just as confusing now as it was back then. Maybe even more so, now that Theo’s given her a ring. Regardless, he’s been making amends ever since the day late last winter when he showed up on the doorstep of the hotel room Elizabeth was hiding her and Makoto in, so she doesn’t pull away when his hand falls on her shoulder. “Are you okay?” he asks. 

Kotone’s never been good at lying to Theo, so she says, “I wish I—  _ we _ —could have said a proper goodbye before we—” The word  _ died _ is unspoken, but heard all the same.

Ahead of them, Makoto’s feet stutter in their stride. He’s felt the rush of emotions she has. His sorrow answers hers.

A contemplative expression takes over Theo’s face. Then, almost too quiet for Kotone to hear, he says, “Elizabeth and I may be able to help with that.”

* * *

All four of them end up in Makoto and Kotone’s room. Kotone clambers up onto the bed and rests her head in Theo’s lap. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Makoto and Elizabeth take up a similar position.

“Only the two of you should remember this dream,” Elizabeth says. “The others will only have vague impressions of it when they wake up.”

Theo continues, “This means you can tell them anything you want; nothing that happens in a dream violates your deal.” Warm fingers press against Kotone’s temples. “Do you two have anything specific in mind for the setting?”

And  _ God, _ Kotone can  _ feel _ Makoto’s grin. “Hey, Elizabeth, do you remember that time I took you to Club Escapade?”

* * *

The place they end up in looks like the Velvet Room but isn’t quite right. Igor isn’t there, for one, and there’s a disco ball hanging from the ceiling and pulsing neon lights on the walls and loud, bumping music playing from a source Kotone can’t see.

She looks down and sees that her clothes have changed. They look like a modified version of her school uniform—not from Yasogami, but from Gekkoukan. A quick glance at Makoto tells her he’s dressed similarly, and the message is clear. Tonight, they’re Minato and Minako once more.

Minako blinks, and she and her brother are surrounded by the rest of S.E.E.S., who are also dressed in modified school uniforms. They take a moment to take in their surroundings and freezes when they register Minako and Minato’s presence. Minako’s heart leaps into her throat. Her brother reaches out to squeeze her fingers.

Aigis moves first. Of course she does. She wraps an arm around each of their necks and pulls them into a bone-crushing embrace. Her hug is not warm or soft, but it’s so full of love that neither Minako nor Minato complains about the discomfort. “I was supposed to  _ protect _ you,” she says, and her voice is thick, like she would be crying if she was able to. “Why didn’t you let me?”

“We missed you too, Aigis,” Minato says. 

The sound of his voice seems to act like a trigger, because the rest of their team surges forward, and they’re caught up in a storm of love and affection and relief, and there’s no where else either of them would rather be.

* * *

“Wait, Aigis, you’re a  _ Wild Card _ now?”

Minako, Aigis, Yukari, and Fuuka are all sitting on a couch near the de-facto dance floor, catching up while they watch Mitsuru-senpai try to teach Minato some of her ballet moves. “It happened shortly after your—after graduation,” Aigis says. “We all got trapped in the dorm and had to clear a place similar to Tartarus to escape.” Yukari and Fuuka both shift, uncomfortable, and Minako knows there’s more to the story that they’re not telling her. “Now that I know you two are alive, I’ll channel my new strength into finding you.”

And  _ that’s _ a headache and a half to think about. Even if Aigis would be able to remember their shared dream, no one knew which timeline Kotone and Makoto existed in. They never wanted to find out. There’s a fifty-fifty chance the wrong Aigis would be the one to remember, and then she’d spend the rest of her life on a wild goose chase.

But Minako doesn’t want to ruin their night, so she just laughs and says, “That would be nice.”

* * *

After spending a few more minutes tiring Minato out, Mitsuru-senpai grabs Minako’s wrists and pulls her up to dance instead. She giggles helplessly when Mitsuru-senpai leads her into a dip, wildly inappropriate for the heavy rock music that’s currently playing, and when she’s upright again, Minako says, “Aren’t  _ you _ in a good mood tonight? Do you have a cute girlfriend taking care of you now?”

Mitsuru-senpai flushes. “Not yet. I’ve been busy with work.”

“The Shadow Operatives, right? Fuuka told me about it.” Minako smiles. “It’s good work, Mitsuru-senpai. I’m glad we can trust you to do it.”

“You and Minato will remember this, right?” Minako nods, and Mitsuru-senpai continues, “Feel free to reach out if you need help with Shadows. Anonymously, of course. We take anonymous requests, too.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

* * *

The couch has been taken custody of by Minato, Junpei, and Akihiko-senpai when Mitsuru-senpai finally releases her, so Minako plops down into her brother’s lap and wings her legs up to secure the other two. Akihiko-senpai, who is apparently just as useless with girls now as he was in high school, goes red and starts sputtering. Junpei laughs and says, “don’t let Fuuka see you. She might get jealous.”

“She’d be a hypocrite,” Minato snarks. “She loves Minako’s cuddles as much as you.”

Minako laughs, and then her brain catches up with her brother’s words and her eyes go wide. She swivel her head towards Junpei and says, “You and Fuuka are together?”

Junpei, a dumb, lovestruck grin pasted on his face, nods. “For about a year now. After, well, losing Chidori and you guys and the whole trapped-in-the-dorm thing, she was really good for me. Plus everyone else is pairing off, so we just kinda got put together and we found out we liked it.”

“What do you mean, ‘everyone else is pairing off?’”  
Junpei begins ticking off fingers. “Well, Ken _never_ goes anywhere without Koromaru anymore, Mitsuru-senpai and Akihiko-senpai still have their weird codependency shit going on—” Akihiko-senpai sputters at this, but doesn’t contradict it— “and Yuka0tan and Aigis are living together.”

“Huh,” says Minato. “That’s weird. I didn’t think they got along.”

“They didn’t, for a while. Yuka0tan was pretty resentful of Aigis for becoming a Wild Card. We all figured she inherited from you, y’know, and Yuka-tan was in love with you—”

This makes Minato jolt. “She was  _ what?” _

Minako laughs. “You never noticed? She fell for us after Yakushima. It was pretty obvious.”

Minato huffs and says, “Maybe I was just too gay to figure it out,” which sends Junpei and Minako into hysterics and gets a smile out of Akihiko-senpai. 

And then Ken is asking Minato to dance with him, and the conversation is over.

* * *

Shinji, surprisingly, doesn’t refuse her request to dance. “I’m sorry,” she tells him, voice low so the others can’t hear, “that I didn’t save you. I could have, but I didn’t.”

He knocks his forehead against the top of her head. “I was sick, y’know. Like Trega. I doubt I would’ve lived much longer anyway.”

“Knowing I stole the last few years of your life isn’t much more comforting.”

“Hey.” The soft tone in his voice compels her to tilt her head up to look at his face. “You took care of the others. That’s all I could have ever asked for. I forgive you.”

Minako lets out a quiet sob.

“And,” Shinji continues, “you have my blessing.”

“What?”

He jerks his head toward the far wall, where Theo and Elizabeth are standing, watching their group dream play out. “The blue guy. He hasn’t taken his eyes off you since this whole thing started. I know what an idiot in love looks like.”

“Theo,” Minako says. “He lived in my Velvet Room. He and Elizabeth are helping us live now. He, uh.” She thinks about the ring on the chain. “He wants to marry me.”

“If you love him, go for it. You deserve to be happy, Minako.”

The relief is instant, like she let go of a breath she’d been holding for a long time. Finally, she feels  _ free. _

* * *

Kotone wakes up slowly, a lethargy having settled over her body. Theo’s pale hands are no longer cupping her head and have fallen to the comforter instead. He’s snoring softly. It’s cute.

She turns her head to look at Makoto, who is also awake. In unison, they sit up, careful to not disturb Theo and Elizabeth, and they slip out the door and into the hallway. They don’t speak at first. They just lean against the wall opposite their room, each deep in thought. Kotone is surprised when Makoto breaks the silence first. “What did you and Shinjirou-senpai talk about?”

“He gave me his blessing to get married,” she admits quietly. “He said he forgives me for not being able to save him.”

Makoto’s arm wraps around her shoulders and tugs her in for a hug. “I’m happy for you.”

“I’m sorry Ryoji wasn’t there.”

“I know.”

“Maybe we’ll find him in Tokyo.”

“Maybe.”

Then their door swings open and Theo’s frantic face pops out, though he calms significantly at the sight of them unharmed. “I thought something happened! Why aren’t you in bed?”

Makoto’s laugh is silent, but Kotone hits him anyway.

* * *

After she gets out of the shower and Makoto gets in, Kotone decides to talk to Theo.

Shinji’s words are a calming mantra in her mind. It’s funny; she’s never felt like she needed permission for anything before, but Shinji’s words are just that.

She and Theo go to Chagall for breakfast. The familiar aroma is comforting. Minako worked here, before. Kotone misses it. They order coffee and pastries and sit at a table in a corner away from the door. It’s still pretty early, so the café is mostly empty, which is nice.

It takes half a cup of coffee to pluck up the courage to speak. “I talked to Shinji last night. Or, well, Shinji’s ghost, or whatever you wanna call it.”

Across from her, Theo freezes. Oh, really?” he asks, his voice carefully emotionless. She knows he doesn’t like talking about Shinji. Well, he doesn’t dislike the topic itself; he just has trouble understanding how she can have platonic feelings for someone she’s had sex with. 

_ His worldview is still so simple, _ she thinks.  _ Everything is black and white to him. _

“Yeah,” she finally says. “I did.” She reaches under the collar of her uniform shirt and undoes the chain holding the ring he gave her. She holds it out to him, the golden circlet resting in the middle of her palm, and his face falls. She quirks an eyebrow and, before he can say anything, says, “I’m not wearing it until you propose properly.”

It takes him a minute to catch up, but when he does, the smile he gives her makes her stomach do somersaults. He snatches the ring from her hand with an endearing fumble and sinks to one knee. Distantly, Kotone hears the barista gasp, but all her focus is on Theo. He licks his dry lips and says, “Kotone, will you marry me?”

And the thing is, she’s  _ known _ Theo’s wanted to marry her for a while, but knowing something is different from hearing it, and her heart feels fit to burst. “Nothing could make me happier,” she answers, and Theo takes a moment to shakily slide the ring on her finger before he’s picking her up and spinning her around.

_ “You deserve happiness.” _

_ “I forgive you.” _

_ Thank you, Shinji, _ she thinks, and pulls her new fiancé down for a kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Individuation on [tumblr.](https://individuationfic.tumblr.com/)


End file.
